Why are the tops of clouds all poofy and fun, but the bottoms are totally flat and boring?
In: Physics
I’m very sorry, but there is no way to explain this like you’re 5. That said, I can try to explain it As simply as possible.
Clouds form when water vapour condenses into water. This happens when air cools below its dewpoint. When air rises, it cools. So the bottom of cumulus clouds is the height where air, raised from the ground, reaches its dewpoint. This tends to be fairly consistent over a large region, for reasons I won’t get into. Hence the flatness.
When air stops rising, the water vapour in it stops condensing into liquid water, forming a cloud top. The amount of energy air has to rise varies from location to location — some plumes have more momentum/buoyancy going up, and some have less, which is why the tops are uneven.
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